Officials at the Department of Energy's Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory today (February 4) announced the first of a planned series of Saturday tours for the public, led by Fermilab scientists. The first tours will be held on Saturday, February 12, at 1:00 and 3:00 p.m. at the CDF (Collider Detector at Fermilab) experiment.

Fermilab physicists who are working on the experiment will serve as guides. Tour groups of up to 30 people will have an opportunity to see and learn about the CDF detector, one of two 5,000-ton particle detectors at the Tevatron, the world's highest energy particle accelerator. The top quark was discovered at CDF and its sister detector, DZero, in 1995.

There is no charge for the tour, but advance registration is required. Each of the two tours can accommodate up to 30 people. Children under 18 are welcome, but they must be accompanied by an adult.

For more information, or to register for a tour, call 630-840-3351 during business hours. Fermilab plans to announce future tours of the laboratory's facilities in coming weeks.

Fermilab is a Department of Energy national laboratory, operated by Universities Research Association, Inc.